Cook tortellini according to package directions.
While pasta is cooking, reconstitute mushrooms in warm water, and saute onion and garlic in butter until lightly browned. Sift flour over onion mixture and continue to cook on low-medium heat until flour has coated onions and begins to brown. Add milk, stirring frequently until mixture begins to thicken and then add half of the cheese mixture and allow to melt and incorporate entirely while stirring to make a thick cheese sauce.
Pour beans into oiled casserole dish with vegetables and chicken. Puree tomatoes in a blender or food processor and pour over bean and vegetable mixture.
Add tortellini once cooked, pour cheese sauce overtop, and fold ingredients together.
Sprinkle remaining cheese over top, and bake 30-45 min at 375.

This will be a fairly dry casserole. If you prefer it to be more saucy, throw in a can of cream of mushroom soup, or double the sauce recipe.

I’m thinking of going on a fruit & vegetable fast for the week before the wedding. The one I do a couple of times a year is fresh and frozen fruits and veggies, protein powder, oatmeal, brown rice and lean protein like fish or chicken. No extra salt, no processed foods (other than the whey protein) and no refined sugar.

It’s not intended as a weight-loss thing, but it always gives me an energy boost, and the high levels of nutrients give me a glow, I’m told.

We don’t often eat pre-prepared foods. However, it’s always good to have a few items in the freezer that can be whipped up on those nights when you don’t have energy to cook.

Last night was one of those nights. Luis worked a 12 hour day, and my stamina for standing and cooking is still very very low. As a result you will likely see a lot of quick and easy recipes and meal ideas from me for awhile as I find creative ways to have dinner cooked when he gets home, without tapping out every last ounce of my energy as I’m still trying to heal.

Costco carries salmon patties that have only been very minimally processed. In other words, the fish is still flakey, and recognizable as fish. It’s simply filleted and cut into rounds, and has a light amount of seasoning. These can be found in the frozen section near the pre-made hamburger patties.

Dinner took me less than 10 minutes to cook, and was absolutely delicious. I popped two of the salmon patties in a pan over medium heat and heated them for about 4 minutes per side. While they were cooking, I put some water on to boil, and chopped up fresh broccoli. I put the broccoli in a steamer over the boiling water, lidded it, and gave it 5 minutes. A sprinkle of lemon-pepper and it was done.

Salmon patties and steamed broccoli – in under 10 minutes, very little effort, and absolutely delicious. It’s the ultimate in “fast food.”

This is one of my favorite recipes. It’s so easy to adapt for breakfast, lunch, dinner or a snack, and it keeps me full for a few hours. It also has an added benefit of containing at least two servings of fruit and two of dairy.

The two products referenced in the recipe, PB2 and EAS, are both available online. You can substitute whatever protein powder you like, but I’ve found these to be the best for me. My previous post has ordering info if you’d like it.

On-The-Go Smoothie:
1 scoop EAS vanilla or chocolate whey powder
1 cup water
Mix in a shaker jar or use a stick blender to mix quickly. I occasionally have this as a fast pick-me-up if I am heading out for a workout and don’t have time to eat properly and digest before the gym.

(Substitution for tomatoes and spices = 1 can stewed tomatoes – cut up with kitchen shears while still in the can to leave small chunks)

1/2 cup goat cheese

dried shitaki mushrooms (or your favorite variety)

1 package extra high protein tofu

salt and pepper

Chop tofu into 1/2″ cubes. (in a standard brick of tofu, make 3 slices horizontally through the brick as it’s standing on its largest side, slicing parallel to the cutting board. Then make 5 even slices down through the top across the length, and 3 even slices across the width. This should give you approximately the right sized cubes.) Add a tablespoon of olive oil to a saute pan, and sear all sides of tofu until slightly crunchy on the outside.

Boil water for pasta. Roughly chop or hand-crumble dried mushrooms and toss into water as it’s heating up. Once boiling, add pasta and cook 7-8 minutes or per package directions.